I saw a post somewhere that I thought sum'd it up well. With this new policy, it is no longer a tip at all. A Tip is a personal thing from one person to another. It is now just another surcharge, that once on board they hit you with to cover the wages of the service staff. The waiters and waitresses have no incentive to go out of their way, because they will make pretty much the same as everyone else in their position no matter how hard, or not so hard, they work at it. I agree with most, that I think the level of service will go down under this new policy.

Amen. I'm planning to reverse the charge once we boared the Triumph in July. I have never and will never stiff a staff member on a ship. We had great service on the Sensation in '99, but I want to tip accordingly. Travelling this year with two teens, the Cabin Stewart will definitely earn more than the recommended amount! While the head waiter, waiter and busboy will (and do) earn their recommended amount for a group of four I have to think ... do they all deserve more? The kids don't eat in the dining lounge (except for formal nights)? The Lido Deck staff do deserve more than the new .75 cent per day/per person as the kids are there constantly! Do I want the tips for the Head Waiter, Waiter, and Bus Boy split evenly? No! In '99 our Waiter and Bus Boy did more for us than the Head Waiter. I want to tip according to service. Flame me if you want.

Dear Addicted,
You don` have all the necessary information. Please read below.

Your comments are valid, but your logic is faulty. I agree that service on ships generally has gotten worse over the years.

But please read carefully: I have worked on 18 ships for 11 different cruise liines over the past 27 years. The internal tipping policies have been the same on every ship - ALL TIPS WERE POOLED. Please read that last sentence again. Its important.

When you gave me an envelope of some cash, it didn`t stay in my pocket very long. As soon as the last passengers disembarked the ship, all the service staff met at the Captain`s table in the diningroom. We all put ALL cash tips on the table for counting. Then the Maitre d` split and handed the money out to EVERYONE, based on a complicated point system administered by him. Today with auto-tipping, the smae system is in place. The only difference is that most of the cash comes from the Purser`s office. We still pool ALL the money in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. NOTHING HAS REALLY CHANGED. Please read those last two sentences again. They are important.

To repeat, we ALWAYS knew we would receive a tip regardless of service levels. We still do know today that we weill receive a tip regardless of service levels.

Now please explain to everyone how auto-tipping has damaged service levels.

Once again, I agree that service levels have generally deteriorated over the years (I also observe that the quality of guests has deteriorated at the same pace), bu tyoumay be blaming the wrong reasons for the problems that exist.